Thursday, December 31, 2015

Recent Buy

     The price of a  barrel of crude oil has affected a lot of the energy players on the Toronto Stock Exchange.  Energy makes up a lot of the companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.  I am not confident that the price of oil will only rise from here.  I  think it will drop some more in the near future.
     I looked for opportunities elsewhere. I decided to look at the financials in Canada.  I noticed that the Bank of Nova Scotia has a current yield of approximately 5%.  I purchased 20 shares at $55.99, which comes to a total cost including commissions of  $1124.82.
   
     BNS currently paid an dividend of $2.80 per share per year, which adds $56.00 to my annual dividend income.

Yield on Cost = $2.80/($1124.82/20)
                        = 4.98%

  This purchase was made in my margin account.  I will update my investing tab spreadsheet in a few days to reflect this purchase.

   I  also own BNS directly with the transfer agent.  This particular position has a full drip on which means the entire dividend is reinvested.  The Canadian Banks are some of the best run banks in the world, an I am happy to be a shareholder in 4 of these banks.  I currently own shares in BMO, RY, TD and BNS.

Disclosure: Long BNS, TD, RY, BMO

DISCLAIMER
I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

New Covered Call

  I recently wrote about my covered call in QSR.TO , which is the ticker symbol for Restaurant Brands International.  Restaurant Brands International is the company that owns both Burger King and Tim Hortons.  The latest post on this covered call can be read here.

  This option had an expiration date of Dec 18, 2015.  The option did not get assigned as it expired. So what did I decide to do?  I decided to write another covered call to collect more option premium.  On Dec 23, I sold a covered call in QSR.TO with a January 15 2016 expiration date and $52.00 strike price.

 Summary:

Premium Received = $75.00-$10.95
                               = $64.05

Days to Expiration: 23

Cost of Stock = $5200

ROI = $64.05 / $5200
ROI = 1.232 %

This 1.232% return is for 23 days.  Most banks are paying under 1% annually on their savings accounts.

Annualized ROI = $64.05 / $5200 *365/23
                            = 19.55%

   A covered call is an excellent way to make more income on a stock that you already own.  This strategy is not for everyone, as some people like to buy and hold to collect dividend income.  My initial purchase price was around $47.00 per share.

Long QSR.TO

DISCLAIMER
I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Is Everyone Treated The Same?

     People want to make some changes in their lives to make their lives easier.  Of the these changes  involve investing or trading in the financial markets. Do you think everyone gets equal treatment as their neighbors to the north, south east or west?

     In the past several months, I had a demo account with Oanda, to learn to trade Forex.  As time goes by, I decided it was time to open a real account with only a few hundred dollars.  Forex has leverage of like 50:1 whereas a stock is 2:1 in a margin account.   Depending on the Forex broker, the leverage can be smaller or larger which is determined usually by the broker.

     During the registration process, a condition came up "You do not live in Alberta?".  For people who do not know, Alberta is a province in Western Canada.  Canada has 13 regulators for securities. Each province and territory has their own securities commission.   I did some research and discovered  Albertans can not trade Forex unless they meet one of the exemptions. I discovered this through google. The Alberta Securities Commission, or ASC, has determined that Forex is highly speculative and people can lose lots of money. This is not new , as I believe the rule is in effect over 10 years.

        I called the ASC, to discuss how a regular person can trade forex.  One of the exemptions is a networth of  1 million dollars or a annual income of $200000 ($300000 if a couple).  I then asked if a person open an account offshore. The person I was talking said, "we can't stop you from opening account offshore. But if it is discovered,  the open positions will be closed without notice and your account closed". 

       The person I was talking to at the ASC, said they had calls from about 20 people in the last 6 months, who in total lost 1.6 million dollars.  Alberta is the only province in Canada, who doesn't allow Forex trading.  I believe people should be allowed to trade as it is his or her money. However, I believe a person should have to sign something, saying the understand their is high probability of losing more money than initially invested.

     A brokerage has to be registered in a province or territory in order for its residents to trade a particular market.  So the brokerages can register with the ASC, but an exemption must be met before the person can open an account.  This also applies to other high risk endeavors such as futures trading.

   Conclusion:

    Maybe the reason Forex, and other high speculative endeavors, are forbidden under ASC rules is due to the fact Albertans can make a lot more money than other provinces due to the nature of their jobs.  This means the probability of a person trying to make money in a high risk environment is increased.   When people lose money in the markets, they like to place blame on someone or something else.  Some people do not want to take responsibility when it comes to losing money.

Disclosure: After the consultation with the ASC, I have no plans to open an offshore account. 


DISCLAIMER
I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Dividend Update - November 2015




      The month of November is another month of dividend income landing in my accounts. This money is used to help pay my expenses if it is needed. If the money is not needed, it is ALL used to purchase new investments to further increase my cash flow.

       The price of a barrel of crude oil is currently around $40.00 a barrel.  OPEC doesn't believe if they cut production right now it will have a drastic effect on the price of oil. Well, it surely is not helping the price of oil due to the over supply.  The next meeting of OPEC is in June.

        Currently, there are talks in Paris about climate change.  Here in Canada, the federal liberal government is going to act on climate change.  How will this effect the economy?  They might implement a carbon tax on top of what provinces are currently doing in regards to a carbon tax.  This carbon tax is ultimately passed on to the consumer. As the consumers have less money to spend,  this will be a negative for the economy.

       One this for sure, is that I was paid dividends and distributions for being a shareholder or unit holder in  various companies or funds.

 Non-registered Account
  • Bank of Montreal (BMO) - $28.70
  • Emera Inc. (EMA) - $47.50
  • Enerplus (ERF)  -$ 27.00
  • Killam Properties (KMP)  - $5.75
  • Royal Bank of Canada (RY) - $79.00
  • Shaw Communications (SJR.B)    - $19.75
  • iShares Canadian Divided Select ETF (XDV) - $17.67
TFSA
  • Boston Pizza  Royalties Fund (BPF.UN)   - $25.34
  • Claymore 1-5 yr Laddered Corporate Bond (ETF) - $0.77
  • Cominar REIT (CUF.UN ) - $5.39 
  • Dream Office REIT   (D.UN)  - $ 25.39
  • Killam Properties (KMP) - $  14.90
Total = $297.16

       Almost made it to $300 in dividend income for a month a third time.  This total represents a 14.02% increase from 3 months ago and 75.26% increase  year over year.

      I also received another distribution payment of $56.00 for my swing trade in Dream Office REIT in my non-registered account. This is not listed above since it is a trade, so I keep the money in the account and do not pay myself first with this payment. I have received $1603.47 in distributions so far on this trade.

      I will update my dividend income tab with the new amount. It is great to see money from passive income sources deposited into my brokerage account every single month.

How was your dividend income for November?

Disclosure : Long all securities above.

Photo Credit: www.mipaq,co.za

DISCLAIMER
I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Portfolio Update - November 2015

      During the month of November, their was the meeting in Paris about Climate Change. Here in Canada also, the NDP government of Alberta has announced their climate change plans.  During the press conference, there was CEOs of the largest companies that have operations in the Alberta oil sands.  I believe these CEOs believe there will be more markets available to them if their extraction process is more cleaner.  Canada's largest trading partner is the United States.  The US might be more likely to add more pipelines to their system if the source of the extraction is more environmentally friendly.  Oil and gas companies in Western Canada need to develop technologies that allow them to be more efficient and do stuff at a lower cost.

      I started off the month with an  options trade.  I bought back an option with a $48.00 strike price to replace it with a $52.00 strike price.  Although the price of Restaurant Brands International (ticker symbol QSR)  moves a lot, it does not effect people going into their restaurants as a lot of their customers could care less about the stock price.  Restaurants Brands International consists of Burger King and Tim Horton's.  Tim Horton's is a staple for a lot of people in Canada on a daily basis.  The covered call is set to set to expire Dec 18, 2015. If the option is not assigned,  I will write another covered call to collect more income as the dividend yield is low for this stock. 

    I next wrote about what an individual can do to better position themselves financially.  The concept of paying yourself first and let compounding to start to take effect can reduce stress in your life as 
 you create wealth and other sources of income.

     Finally, I wrote about averaging down on XDV, which is iShares Canadian Select Dividend ETF.  This dividend ETF pays monthly.  My brokerage offers commission free ETFs, so my out of pocket cost are just ECN fees when they apply.

     I purchased $140.00 worth of Enbridge shares directly from the transfer agent on December 1.  There is no commissions, so my out of pocket cost is the price of a stamp to mail the check.  I acquired 2.929 shares at $47.80 per share.  Enbridge also paid its quarterly dividend on December 1.  As I participate in a full drip with the transfer agent, I acquired 0.122 shares at $46.84 per share.  The drip is a 2% discount.

    On Dec 3, Enbridge announced at 14% dividend increase starting with its Mar 2016 dividend payment.  The new annual dividend rate will be $2.12 per year, or $0.53 per quarter.  

     As of  Dec 3  2015, the value of my portfolio stands at $80,754.11. This is an decrease of  1.500 % over last month. I will update my investing account tab above.

Disclosure: Long  QSR, ENB

DISCLAIMER
I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should be NOT taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Averaging Down

     I recently wrote about purchasing  200 units of an ETF.  The name of this ETF is the iShares Dow Jones Canadian  Select  Dividend ETF.  As per google finance, so information as to what the ETF consists of is shown below:


iShares Dow Jones Canada Select Dividend Index Fund, formerly iShares CDN Dow Jones Canada Select Dividend Index Fund, seeks to provide long-term capital growth by replicating, to the extent possible, the performance of the Dow Jones Canada Select Dividend Index (the Index) through investments in the constituent issuers of such Index. The Index consists of 30 of the highest yielding, dividend-paying companies in the Dow Jones Canada Total Market Index, as selected by Dow Jones using a rules-based methodology, including an analysis of dividend growth, yield and average payout ratio. In the Index, the weight of any one company, in terms of market capitalization, is limited to 10%. The Fund is managed by BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited.            ( Source: Google Finance)

   I purchased 19 more units of XDV. The 19 units were purchased at $22.05.  There was no commissions as my broker has commissioned free ETFs.  However, I had to pay some ECN fees as it was not a round lot of units.  XDV pays a monthly distribution.

   EDIT:   I will update my investing tab spreadsheet in early December.

DISCLAIMER

I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

How Do You Help Yourself?

   Living in Canada, everyone knows how important the oil industry is not only for Western Canada but for the entire country.  As the jobs in the oil industry are high paying, people travel from all parts of Canada to work in the oil patch in western Canada.  Canada has conventional oil, which is the involves the drilling rigs. It is said that one rig operating is 135 jobs.  These jobs involve working long hours, which is a completely different life from a person who works 8 hours a day and goes home everyday. 

Fig 1

    Currently with the price of the barrel of crude oil, there has been a lot of layoffs in the oilfield.  As the oil field workers maker a lot of money, and at times are paid expenses  such as hotels and meals by their employers when they are working. The typical shift is usually 2 weeks on and 6 days off. When the oilfield service workers are traveling to various rigs they often stay in hotels and eat in restaurants regardless if it is a city, a town, or small rural area.

Fig 2.
      As you can see from the above chart the drilling rig utilization is way down year over year. The average utilization of 25% has drastic effects on the economies of western Canada.  With the massive amount of layoffs comes less traffic on the roads going to and from rigs.  This also means other sectors are being effected including hotels and restaurants.
       The other type of oil exploration in Canada is the oil sands.  This involves no rigs but huge machines digging.  The extraction of oil  comes through separation the oil from the ground that is dug up. This is done though things such as processing plants.
    
 Events of Last 15 years

   Their has been major things that happened in the last 15 years.  We had the dot com bubble, the global financial crisis in 2007-2009 and now the low oil prices. These have caused major problems in the financial industry.  The financial crisis is the worst recession since the great depression.  Currently, we are in living with the low price for a barrel of crude oil.  The fall of crude oil prices started in September 2014. We are currently testing the $40.00 a barrel threshold for WTI prices. We have no idea how long this low price environment is going to last.  Some analysts predict the price will go down lower while others predict it will be 2020 before we see $80.00 a barrel oil. 
     
What Can A Person Due To Help Themselves?

    When a person works at a job they do not have many tax advantages that they can take advantage of.  A person needs to save a percentage of their after-tax income by paying themselves first.  This pay yourself first concept was popularized in the book called The Richest Man in Babylon. The goal is to grow this money by putting it to work.  As the amount grows, a person can buy income producing assets such as stocks that pay dividends, rental properties, bonds etc.  The income from these assets are "children" of your investments.  Then you put these "children" to work along with new money from paying yourself first to grow your passive income.  This will allow your assets and their income to compound exponentially.  As first the going is slow, but over time the compounding becomes more noticeable.
     By creating passive income, a person helps to reduce stress in their life as they have more income from just one source, which is usually from a job.  A job is no longer secure.  If a person is building their war chest and receives a layoff or gets fired from a job, then they have income to fall back on .  The ultimate goal is to have more money coming in from investments than going out to pay expenses.  Once the passive income coming in is greater than expenses, then the person is financially free.  
    Imagine, being able to go on vacation whenever you want.  While you are on vacation, you do not have to worry about money as your investments are providing you with NEW money.  Going on vacation like this is only possible with receiving money from other sources rather than from a job.   

Fig. 3
 Photo Credits:  Fig.1 - www.precisiondrilling.com
                          Fig.2 - www.caodc.com
                          Fig.3 - www.weknowyourdreams.com 

DISCLAIMER
I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

 

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Option trade - Update

     I recently wrote about writing a covered call in QSR, which you can read about here. The strike price of this call option was $48.00.  While holding this position, the price of the stock went up and up, which means the option premium went up as well.
     I  decided to buy this option back and then sell a new call option with a $52.00 strike price with a Dec 18 expiration date. The price of the stock has fallen back down to just over $47 a share.  So I plan to hold this option until expiration.  If it is not assigned I will attempt to write another covered call. As I have to pay an assignment fee of $24.95, I look for collecting premiums of $0.46 per contract before commissions.

Disclosure: Long QSR

DISCLAIMER
I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Dividend Update - October 2015




      The month of October is another month of dividend income landing in my accounts. This money is used to help pay my expenses if it is needed. If the money is not needed, it is ALL used to purchase new investments to further increase my cash flow.

       The price of a barrel of crude oil is still a major focus of the markets and the economy. Some analysts are predicting the WTI price of a barrel of crude oil to remain between $40 to $55 for the next year. At the same time, other analysts are predicting the WTI price for a barrel of crude oil to be around $80.00 a barrel. None of us are able to say where the price of oil is going to be by the end of this year or at the end of the next few years.

       Recently in the last few days, President Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline that would bring oil from the oil sands to the gulf coast.  This topic should play out well in the coming weeks for companies in the oil and gas sector in western Canada.

 Non-registered Account
  • Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) - $21.54
  • Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) - $65.00
  • Enerplus (ERF)  -$ 26.85
  • Killam Properties (KMP)  - $5.75
  • Restaurants Brands International (RBI) - $7.85
  • Rogers Communications Class B (RCI.B) - $96.00
  • Shaw Communications (SJR.B)    - $19.75
  • Toronto Dominion Bank (TD) - $51.00
TFSA
  • Boston Pizza  Royalties Fund (BPF.UN)   - $25.34
  • Claymore 1-5 yr Laddered Corporate Bond (ETF) - $0.77
  • Cominar REIT (CUF.UN ) - $5.39 
  • Dream Office REIT   (D.UN)  - $ 25.39
  • Killam Properties (KMP) - $  14.85
Total = $365.48

       This total is my highest monthly dividend income ever and is the second time I made over $300 in a month from dividend income.  This total represents a 19.52% increase from 3 months ago and 48.62% increase  year over year.

     The RBI dividend is on my prior holding of this stock that I sold. I sold after the ex-dividend date, so therefore I received the payment. I have since bought back into this stock with a bigger position and at a lower price. I plan to write covered calls on this stock as the stock has a very low yield, although still better than a savings account.

      I also received another distribution payment of $56.00 for my swing trade in Dream Office REIT in my non-registered account. This is not listed above since it is a trade, so I keep the money in the account and do not pay myself first with this payment. I have received $1547.47 in distributions so far on this trade.

     Enerplus recently announced their earnings and the board of directors decided to decrease the dividend to $0.03 per share per month down from $0.05 per month. This decrease will start with the December payment. Enerplus is an oil and gas producer in Canada and the United States.  The low price of a barrel of crude and what natural gas is trading at these days is drastically affecting the profitability of this company.

      I will update my dividend income tab with the new amount. It is great to see money from passive income sources deposited into my brokerage account every single month.

How was your dividend income for October?

Disclosure : Long all securities above.

Photo Credit: www.mipaq,co.za

DISCLAIMER
I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Portfolio Update - Oct 2015

    The month of October was an interesting month.  The federal election in Canada came to a close on October 19.  As Canada is a big country across multiple time zones, the polls close in the Atlantic provinces while the polls from Quebec out to British Columbia have their polls still open.  So the results of the Atlantic provinces start coming in.  The downside to this is people, who vote towards the end of election day, can be persuaded to vote for a particular party they want in over another party.  The liberal picked up all 32 seats in Atlantic Canada. Quebec and Ontario was next to close their polls and starting counting the ballots. It started to look like the liberals were favored to win and therefore the government would be changing hands.  The Conservatives had a strong backing in western Canada, and still picked up a lot of seats.

    The liberals ended up with a majority government.  What does this have to do with investing?  During the election, the liberals put out a platform just like all parties do.  This shows us what the government plans to do with our tax dollars while in office.  If taxes get raised this will effect businesses investing in a certain jurisdiction.  The NDP government of Alberta released its first budget last week, which was after the federal election.  The Alberta election was on May 5 2015.
          A big oil and gas company, Royal Dutch Shell took action immediately took action after the Alberta NDP budget was released. Click the following video to find out what exactly Royal Dutch Shell did.(Source: Rebel Media)



     I wrote recently about selling a put option in Telus Communications, which you can read about here. This put option had an October 16 expiration date and was not assigned.  I get to keep the premium that was paid to me for selling the option.  My return for 16 days was 1.036%.

    I wrote about selling my position in Just Energy, which you can read about here.  I came out of this position with a profit.  The price of the stock is still up over $9.00 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. A private equity investment company is buying up a lot of shares still. This investment company is owned by Ron Joyce, who was the cofounder of Tim Hortons.  Tim Hortons was sold to Wendy's Restaurants and Ron Joyce became the largest shareholder of Wendys at the time.  Eventually Wendy's departed with Tim Hortons and became its own Canadian corporation again. Burger King eventually bought Tim Hortons and formed a new company called Restaurant Brands International which I currently own.

    On October 14, I purchased 100 shares of Restaurant Brands International, RBI, on the Toronto Stock Exchange.  This investment is the lowest I have paid for shares of this newly formed entity.  After seeing some weakness in the share price, I sold a covered call to collect a premium of $99.05 after commissions. The stock has gone a lot higher then the strike price of the option. So I am watching to see if the price of the option falls.  If the price of the option falls, I might buy back the option and then sell the stock which will be higher than my gain from the option being assigned. 

   On October 26, I entered a trade by purchasing 200 units of XDV, the iShares Canadian Dividend Select ETF.  My brokerage offers this ETF has commissions free. My entry price is $22.49.  I have a GTC order in to sell this.  XDV pays a monthly distribution, which I will collect while waiting for my sell order to be filled.

Shares added due to drip

3 shares of ERF @ $7.735 for a total of $23.21
1 share of KMP @ $10.00 for a total of  $10.22 inside TFSA

   I will also acquire more shares of Scotia Bank, which I own through the transfer agent. This is a full drip. I received the dividend of $21.54 last week. It usually takes 3 to 7 business days to find out the amount of new shares and at what price they are acquired at.
  
    As of  Nov 1 of  2015, the value of my portfolio stands at $81984.24. This is an increase of  4.253% over last month. I will update my investing account tab above.

Disclosure: Long  KMP, ERF,  RBI

DISCLAIMER
I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should be NOT taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Recent Trade - Entry Point

    On Monday, I purchased 200 units of XDV on the Toronto Stock Exchange.  This is an exchange traded fund, or ETF.  ETFs is like a fund but trades as a stock.
 
     XDV is known as the iShares Dow Jones Canadian Select Dividend Fund.  The current yield of the ETF is approximately 4.78%.  The fund has a lot of financials in the top 10 of their fund. Canada is known for its financial sector,  and in particular, the big 5 banks.  Below is a  table, as of October 26,  showing the top 10 stocks of the fund by weight.


NameTickerWeight
Canadian Imperial Bank of CommerceCM9.75%
Bank of MontrealBMO6.92%
Royal Bank of CanadaRY6.40%
Bell Canada EnterprisesBCE5.98%
Bank of Nova ScotiaBNS5.50%
Rogers Communications Class BRCI.B5.08%
Laurentian Bank of CanadaLB4.97%
Toronto Dominion BankTD4.34%
Manitoba Telecom ServicesMBT4.29%
IGM Financial Inc.IGM4.19%


    I own shares in 6 out of these top 10 holdings.  My brokerage has zero commission ETFs which I took advantage of here.  I purchased 200 units at $22.49 on October 26.   I put in a good to cancel order to sell these units.  I will hold this ETF until my order gets filled. In the mean time, I will collect any dividends that this ETF will pay me.  There will be a commission on the sale.

Click to Enlarge
    An individual could use commission free ETFs, such as this, to get a higher yield than a savings account.  The yield on savings accounts today is so small these days and non-existent for regular day to day savings accounts.  Of course, the higher yield brings more risk such as the price of the ETF could go down below your cost basis.

 DISCLAIMER

I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.


Sunday, October 25, 2015

Rogers Q3 Earnings Highlights



       Public companies trading on the various stock exchanges across the world have to report earnings on a quarterly basis.  This allows investors to know how the company is doing financially and the company's plan for the future. As a shareholder of a company, an investor should take an active role, by at least listening to these conference calls.  They usually last about an hour each, and the results come directly from the CEO and the CFO of the company.  



        Rogers Communications, which trades in New York and Toronto, released its Q3 earnings on  Oct 22, 2015. So below, I posted some highlights from the conference call.

2015 Q3 Highlights  For Rogers Communications.

  • Revenue growth up over 4% YOY
  • Adjusted operating profit increase of 3% YOY
  • Free Cash Flow up almost $300 million
  • Wireless network revenue grew by 3%
  • Added 77000 pre-paid wireless subscribers
  • In September, expanded Roam Like Home to another 40 countries
                      - Now available in over 75 countries
                      - 2.1 million customers now enrolled in Roam Like Home

  • Launched WIFI calling which lets customers make calls and texts over WIFI.
                -- This started with the iPhone

    • LTE network now 3 time faster than the beginning of 2015
    • Cable revenue up 1%
    • 3.4 million homes in Ontario can access speeds up to 5 times faster than competitors
    • top line revenue growth grew by 4% YOY
    • Adjusted operating profit this quarter of $1.35 billion, which is up 3%.
    • Smart phone activations 
                         - activated 737000 phones in quarter with 1/3 being new subscribers
                         - up 20% YOY
                         - 28% increase in higher value iPhone customer activations

    • EPS $0.90 per share -  analysts’ estimate was $0.747 per share.


          Rogers Communications provide telecommunications services to residential and commercial customers. These services included Internet, cable, phone, and wireless. They are one of the major players in Canada in this space. In cable, they own Sportsnet which shows a lot of sporting events including the Toronto Blue Jays. Why mention the Toronto Blue Jays? Rogers own the Toronto Blue Jays, which is a major league baseball team. I own 200 shares of Rogers so I own a part of the Blue Jays. As the Blue Jays competed for the World Series this year, this will mean more revenue for Rogers as more games were played. 

    Disclosure: Long RCI.B

    Photocredit:  www.rogersmedia.com 

    DISCLAIMER
    I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

    Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

    Monday, October 19, 2015

    Option Trade

       I recently wrote about a stock purchase in Restaurant Brands International, that you can read about here.  The yield on this stock is low, so I was looking for a way to gain some cash flow from this investment.

       One of the ways to receive cash flow from a position that you own is to write a covered call.  With a covered call, the seller receives a premium for the promise to sell his or her shares at the strike price  on or before expiration.  A covered call is sort of like "renting" you stock.

        If the price of the stock goes down or sideways, the option seller stills get to keep the premium.  The option seller can sell another covered call on the stock if he or she chooses to. Another benefit of actually owning the shares is that the option seller still receives the dividend if they own it on the dividend record date.

         If the price of the stock goes up and the option is assigned,  the shares are "called" away.  If the strike price is about your purchase price, then the capital gain is higher do to the option premium is added to the proceeds of sale for tax purposes.  Depending on which broker you use, there might be an option assignment fee.  In my case, my brokerage as an option assignment fee of $24.95.

    CONCLUSION

         On October 19, Restaurants Brands International (RBI) was trading around $47.00 a share.  I looked at the option tables and saw the bid price was around $1.05 per contract for Nov 20 expiration and strike price of $48.00. So I watched if for about 5 minutes and saw it change to $1.10 per contract. So I placed a market order for 1 contract.

       RBI just paid a dividend at the beginning of October, so there will be no dividend paid between now and expiration as the dividend is quarterly.

    Two Possible Outcomes

    Scenario #1 - Option assigned

    Option assignment fee = $24.95
    Option commission = $10.95
    Premium = $1.10
    Number of contracts = 1
    Initial Price = $4700+ $4.95 =$4704.95
    Strike Price = $48.00

    Profit = $4800-4704.95-$24.95-$10.95+$110.00
              =  $169.15

    Total Return = $169.15/$4704.95
                          = 3.60%

    Scenario #2 - Option Not Assigned

    Premium received including commissions = $99.05
    # of days until expiration = 32

    Still get to be the owner of the 100 shares.

    Return = $99.05 / ($4704.95 -$99.05 )
                 = 2.15%

    Annualized return = 2.15%/32*365
                                  = 24.52%

         A covered call limits the profit that an investor can make but allows the investor to collect some more income from the position.  The price of the stock has risen a lot today since the option was sold. The stock currently trades at $49.28 as of this writing.  The option has not been assigned as of right now.

    Note: The shares were purchased on the Toronto Exchange.

    Disclosure: Long RBI

    DISCLAIMER
    I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

    Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.



    Wednesday, October 14, 2015

    Recent Purchase

         There has been a stock that I have owned from time to time.  When the major acquisition was announced in the last year or so, I cashed out and netted a capital gain about $2950.00.  Tim Horton's was acquired by Burger King in a major leveraged buyout with the help of Warren Buffet.  The company that consists of the two companies, which still operate as their own brands, is know as Restaurant Brands International.
      
           I recently held the stock, RBI, up to recently.  The dividend is not very high but the dividend is paid in USD although the company is headquartered in Canada.  With a strong USD, every 1 USD buys approximately 1.30 Canadian dollars which makes the dividend yield higher.

         Today, October 14th, I purchased 100 shares at $47.00 for a total cost of $4704.95 including commissions.  This is a lowest price that I have purchased shares of RBI.

          The line ups at Tim Horton's continue to be long. For the average person, it is more economical for them to have Tim Hortons Coffee over McDonald's Coffee or Starbucks. All three of these companies serve more than coffee, but there is more Tim Hortons in Canada than the latter two.  Also 8 out of every 10 cups of coffee bought in Canada is bought at a Tim Hortons.  

    DISCLAIMER
    I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

    Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

    Wednesday, October 7, 2015

    Recent Sale

            I have own a certain stock for a while. This stock has cuts it dividend a few times since I became an owner. This company is Just Energy (ticker Symbol JE) , which trades on both the TSX in Toronto and the NYSE.
           
             Just Energy is a Canadian Energy Management solutions provider involved in electricity, natural gas, solar and green energy. A part of their business is providing customers with long term fix pricing.
         
              I have dripped this stock inside my brokerage account  for a while acquiring more "whole" shares. I acquired 152 shares alone though dripping of this stock.  I sold all my shares of JE on Oct 2,  via a market order, for a total of $6476.45.

     The stock was above my cost basis. So why did I sell? Just Energy used to be an income trust and then changed to a corporation. JE has a high dividend payout ratio which is sometimes over 100% and company did not grow very much. This company has many negative earnings reports over the past several quarters.  The run up in the stock is possible due to  a private holding company is buying up a lot of shares. 

    SUMMARY

    Initial Cost  (Adjusted Cost Base ) including commissions = $5997.31
    Proceeds of Sale including commisions  = $6476.45

    Profit = $479.14

     I sold to lock in profits.  

         My adjusted cost basis was approximately $7.88 per share. I wanted to sleep well at night  so holding 761 shares was too big of a position and having too high of an ACB made it an easy decision to sell. If I plan to own this stock in the future it will not be a big position.

    DISCLAIMER
    I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

    Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

    Sunday, October 4, 2015

    Dividend Update - September 2015




          The month of September is another month of dividend income landing in my accounts. This money is used to help pay my expenses if it is needed. If the money is not needed, it is ALL used to purchase new investments to further increase my cash flow.

           The price of a barrel of crude oil is still a major focus of the markets and the economy. Some analysts are predicting the WTI price of a barrel of crude oil to remain between $40 to $55 for the next year. At the same time, other analyst are predicting the WTI price for a barrel of crude oil to be around $80.00 a barrel. None of us are able to say where the price of oil is going to be by the end of this year or at the end of the next few years.

           The Chinese markets continue to affect our markets along with the low oil prices.  Also, in North America, the interests rates have not been raised is a very long time. If the FED raises interest rates then this will likely effect all countries as it shows the United States are slowing their economy and making it more expensive to borrow money.

     Non-registered Account
    • Enbridge (ENB) - $3.33
    • Enerplus (ERF)  -$ 26.70
    • Just Energy (JE) - $93.75
    • Killam Properties (KMP)  - $5.75
    • Shaw Communications (SJR.B)    - $19.75
    TFSA
    • Boston Pizza  Royalties Fund (BPF.UN)   - $25.34
    • Claymore 1-5 yr Laddered Corporate Bond (ETF) - $0.77
    • CN Rail  (CNR) - $11.88
    • Cominar REIT (CUF.UN ) - $5.39 
    • Dream Office REIT   (D.UN)  - $ 16.61
    • Enbridge (ENB) - $15.35
    • Killam Properties (KMP) - $  14.80
    Total = $239.42

     This total represents a 2.663% increase from 3 months ago and 8.921% decrease  year over year. 

          I also received another distribution payment of $56.00 for my swing trade in Dream Office REIT in my non-registered account. This is not listed above since it is a trade, so I keep the money in the account and do not pay myself first with this payment. I have received $1491.47 in distributions so far on this trade.

          I will update my dividend income tab with the new amount. It is great to see money from passive income sources deposited into my brokerage account every single month.

    How was your dividend income for September?

    Disclosure : Long all securities above.

    Photo Credit: www.mipaq,co.za

    DISCLAIMER
    I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

    Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

    Friday, October 2, 2015

    Portfolio Update - September 2015

        The month of September has come to an end. Therefore,  it's time to update the portfolio.  The market in China continues to show weakness. The price of a barrel of crude oil continues to remain below $50.00. The low price of crude oil has boosted the manufacturing sector but has hurt a lot of companies in the energy sector. These are just some of the reasons why the declines in the market over the past several months. 

         On September 1, I purchased 5.066 shares of Enbridge at a cost of $52.31 for a cost of $265.00. This was directly though the transfer agent, so the only cost to acquire these shares is a price of a stamp.  On September 1, Enbridge also paid a dividend. Therefore, the shares I already owned through the transfer agent were dripped.

       On September 18, I wrote about a covered call transaction. I sold a call option in Royal Bank with a January 16, 2016 expiration. I received a premium of  $64.05 including commissions. A covered call allows an investor to receive more income as the premium is paid to me for being obligated to sell my 100 shares on or before the expiration date. I get to keep the premium regardless if the stock goes above $80.00, goes lower or sideways.

       On September 21, I sold my 50 shares in Restaurant Brands International. The profit on my position was $64.76 excluding dividends.  Restaurant Brands International is the parent company that consists of Burger King and Tim Hortons.  Burger King and Tim Hortons are run as separate companies, so the parent company breaks the earning up for the two restaurant chains when they report earnings.

        On September 24 , I purchased 47 shares of Dream REIT in my Tax Free Savings Account.  Dream Office REIT has most of their buildings in major urban centers in Canada. This purchase allowed to to average down on my position of Dream REIT and also gave me enough shares to DRIP. I turned on the DRIP immediately for this position.

       I completed a couple of trades which involved short selling.  With short selling, an investor or trade first borrows the shares and then immediately sells them. This action is done by clicking sell instead of buy.  The goal of short selling is to buy the shares back at a lower price and then return them to the broker.  The profit or loss in short selling is the different between the sell price and the bought price minus the commissions. The trades were in the same stock, which was Agnico Eagle Mines Limited on the Toronto Stock Exchange. You can read about these trades here.

        I ended the month off with two more trades.  One trade was completed and the other is still option. I completed a trade in Cominar REIT inside my margin account. I made a very small profit on this trade to the tune of $8.56.   For disclosure, I own 44 units of Cominar REIT inside my TFSA still. The last action of the month was selling a put option in Telus Communications.  I sold a Oct 16, 2015 put option with a strike price of $42.00.  I collected a premium of $43.05 after commissions.


    Shares added due to drip

    0.065 shares ENB @ 51.26 for a total of $3.33
    3 shares of ERF @ $7.19 for a total of $21.57
    1 share of KMP @ $10.00 for a total of  $10.00
    11 shares of JE@  $8.07 for a total of $88.77

         As of  October 1 of  2015, the value of my portfolio stands at $78639.68. This is an increase of  4.357% over last month. I will update my investing account tab above.

    Disclosure: Long JE, KMP, ERF,  CUF.UN, D.UN

    EDIT: Royal Bank Covered Call was added to the spreadsheet on October 4, 2015. It got overlooked while writing this post and updating the spread sheet on October 2, 2015.

    DISCLAIMER
    I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should be NOT taken as investment or business advice.

    Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk

    Recent Trade - Trade #2

       On September 30 after exiting my position of Cominar REIT inside the margin account I went shopping. I was looking for a possible position instead of trading. So I ended up in the "middle of the road"

        I sold a put option for $0.54 for October 16, 2015 in Telus Communications. The strike price is $42.00. When you sell a put option, you are paid a premium for the obligation to BUY 100 shares of the stock on or before expiration. The option seller gets to keep the premium regardless if the market goes up, down, or sideways.

    Two scenarios can occur  when selling a put option:

    Scenario #1   Option not assigned.

    # of days to expiration = 16
    Option Commission = $10.95
    Premium paid to me = $0.54
    # of contracts = 1
    Strike Price = $42.00

    Premium including commissions = 1*100*$0.54 - $10.95
                                                          = $43.05

    Return = $43.05/($4200-$43.05)
                = 1.036%

    So my return for 16 days is 1.036%

    Annualized Return = 1.036% / 16 *365
                                     = 23.62%

    Return on capital is the amount of capital required in your account to put on the trade.  Return on capital is usually 20% of break even. 

    Return on Capital = $43.05/ (.20*($4200-$43.05))
                                 = $43.05 / $831.39
                                 =  5.178%

    Annualized Return on capital = 5.178% /16 *365
                                                     =118%

    Scenario #2   Option is assigned

    Annual Dividend Rate = $1.68
    Option Assignment Fee = $24.95

    Adjusted cost basis =  $4200 -(1*100*$0.54 - $10.95) +$24.95
                                    = $4181.90

    Yield with option assignment = $1.68/(4181.90/100 shares)
                                                    = 4.017%

    I will now calculated the yield if I purchased the stock without an option at $42.00.

    Adjusted Cost Basis including commission = $4200+ $4.95
                                                                          =  $4204.95

    Yield = $1.68 /($4204.95/100 shares)
              = 3.995%

    DISCLAIMER

    I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

    Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.





    Thursday, October 1, 2015

    Recent Trade - Trade 1

        The REIT sector has been beaten down later as a result of the economy. The low price for a barrel of crude oil is starting to show its effects right across Canada. Thousands of Alberta workers live in other parts of Canada on their days off. With these people not working very much, means they are spending less in their own communities.

         Another factor in why REITs are not performing well is due to the interest rate situation.  Interest rates have been low for quite a while. This means the price of borrowing is cheaper for new mortgages and renewals.  But interest rates will eventually rise, so this future possibility could be already factored into the current price of the REIT.

         I currently own units in Cominar REIT (CUF.UN) and Dream REIT (D.UN).  I just recently purchased more units of Dream REIT, which you can read about here. For disclosure, I also own shares in Killam Properties (KMP), which trade as a corporation.

        I looked to this sector to place a trade.  On September 28, I purchased 150 units of Cominar REIT inside my margin account at a price of $15.98 per unit.  I immediately placed a limit order to sell the units.  On September 30, their volume of shares traded was low, so I lowered my limit order to get filled. I am still long Cominar REIT in my tax free savings account.

    Summary:

    Initial Cost=  150*15.98+$5.47
                      = $2402.47

    Proceeds of Sale (including commissions) = $150*16.11-$5.47
                                                                         = $2411.03

    Profit = $2411.03 - $2402.47
              = $8.56

    The profit was real small.  This trade used some margin of around $600.00.  As of right now, my cash in my margin account is positive.

    Disclosure: Long CUF.UN in TFSA.

    DISCLAIMER

    I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

    Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

    Wednesday, September 30, 2015

    Recent Trades

          During the last week, I noticed a stock went up by a large amount after the market opened on September 24. The price of the stock kept going up. The company is Agnico Eagle Mines Limited, whose ticker symbol is AEM. The stock trades on both the TSX in Toronto and the NYSE in New York.
     
      I decided to place a trade. I initiated a short position by placing a limit order at $34.05 for 100 shares.  The order was filled at $34.11. When shorting, you borrow shares from the broker and sell the stock. This money gets deposited into your brokerage account. The goal is to buy back the stock at a lower price. This action of buying back the stock is known as buy to cover.  The investor or trader pockets the difference after the commissions are accounted for.  When the buy to cover order is executed, then the shares are returned to the broker.
     
     On September 28, my buy to cover limit order was filled at $33.28.

    Summary of First Trade

    Selling Proceeds including commissions = $34.11*100-$5.30
                                                                      = $3405.70

    Shares bought back = $33.28*100+$5.30
                                    = $3333.30

    Profit= $3405.70-$3333.30
             = $72.40


          On September 29, I placed a limit order to short 100 shares of stock at $33.80 per share of Agnico Eagle Mines Limited on the Toronto Stock Exchange. I closed this position (buy to cover ) at $33.19 per share.


    Summary of Trade #2:

    Selling Proceeds including commissions = $33.80*100-$4.95
                                                                      = $3375.05

    Shares bought back = $33.19*100+$4.95
                                    = $3323.95
                                 
    Profit = $3375.05-$3323.95
              = $51.10

     
    Click to Enlarge


    Conclusion: 

           I was profitable on both of these trades. I started with none of my own money.  Does this mean my rate of return is infinity? I came across the following formula on the internet (Source: http://thismatter.com/money/stocks/selling-short.htm)

    Rate of Return on short sale = (Stock Sale Price - Dividends Paid - Stock Purchase Price) / (initial margin requirement)

    The initial margin requirement is 1/2 the stock sale price. An initial margin requirement is required as a short seller must buy back the shares at some point and return them to the broker.

    Rate of Return  For Trade #1 =( $3405.70-$0-$3333.30) / (0.5*3405.70)
                                                    =  4.252%

    Rate of Return For Trade #2 = ($3375.05 -$0 -$3323.95)/(0.5*3323.95)
                                                  = 3.075%

    The risk on a short position is infinity as the price of the stock can keep going up and up. With this in mind, I used bracket orders for both of these trades. These bracket orders consist of a stop limit order and a limit order to sell the position.  The stop limit orders caps my potential losses if the stock price keeps going higher. 

    PLEASE NOTE:  Short selling as infinite risk as the stock price can go higher and higher. When in a short position, the short seller pays any dividends that are required to be paid. These dividends get paid to the broker and then the broker pays them to the required actual owner of the shares.

    DISCLAIMER

    I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

    Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.


    Monday, September 28, 2015

    Recent Buy

         The REITs have been beaten down over the past several months. The price of a barrel of crude oil these days reeks havoc on economies that depend on oil.  In western Canada, oil plays a major role in the economies of Alberta, Saskatchewan and north eastern British Columbia. Some major oil players have there headquarters in Calgary. Some oil companies has been acquired or completely shut down as it is difficult for small companies to survive.
       
          Interest rates are really low right now. As it is cheaper to borrow money, REITs have been borrowing money to increase the size of their portfolios. I own units in 2 REITs (Dream Office REIT and Cominar REIT) and own shares in a real estate corporation Killam Properties. The low interest rates cause people to fear these REITs as interest rates will eventually rise. When mortgages come up for renewal, their interest rates will be higher for the mortgages that currently have low rates due to the present day rates.     
      
         On September 24, I purchased 47 units of Dream Office REIT (D.UN.TO) at $20.60 inside my TFSA. The total cost of the purchase is $973.31 including commissions. I averaged down on this position. The average cost basis of this new purchase is $20.71 per unit.  I turned the DRIP on for this position inside my TFSA as I can still lower my cost basis with each additional unit purchased.

    Click to Enlarge

         The chart immediately above shows the share price has fallen 24.10% over the last year. As an investor, I try to be greedy when others are fearful. This chart also says Dundee REIT instead of Dream Office REIT. Dundee REIT is the old name of the REIT that was changed to Dream Office REIT during the last year. 

          Currently, Dream Office REIT is paying a  $2.24004 per unit annual distribution.  The yield on this new purchase is 10.82%.  This purchase adds $105.28 to my annual dividend income.  

         I will update my investment tab spreadsheet in early October to reflect this new purchase.

    Disclosure: Long D-UN

    DISCLAIMER
    I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

    Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

    Saturday, September 26, 2015

    Recent Sale

           During the last little bit, I decided to sell a position. I sold the position for some small profit taking and to get my out of being on margin. I was heading out of the city on Friday and I didn't want to have any surprises such as the market tanking. Although the major crash happening this past Friday was real unlikely, I did not want to worry about.
         
           On September 21, my limit order was filled. I sold 50 shares of Restaurant Brands International at $50/per share for 50 shares.



        I initiated this position on May 26, that you can read about here. Restaurants Brands International is the parent company of Tim Hortons and Burger King. As most of us know Burger King is a worldwide fast food restaurant chain that competes with McDonalds in this space.  Tim Hortons is a fast food chain with most of their restaurants in Canada.

    Summary:

    Initial Cost with commissions: $2430.12
    Proceeds of sale including commissions: $2494.88
    Dividends Received :  $6.19

    Profit = $2494.88-$2430.12
              = $64.76

    Total Return without dividends = $64.76/($2430.12)
                                                       =  2.665%

    Total Returns with dividends = ($64.76+ $6.19 )/$2430.12
                                                    = 2.920%

        QSR will pay another dividend in the first week of October. I am not able to know for sure what the dividend will be as dividends are paid in US Dollars and would have to convert to Canadian dollars. As from my summary above, dividends increase the return on investment.


    DISCLAIMER
    I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

    Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.


    Wednesday, September 16, 2015

    Cashflow From The Stock Market

          An investor can make in different ways from the stock market.  The most common ways are through dividends and interest.  Dividends are more tax efficient for Canadian investors than interest. Dividends from a foreign country and interest are taxed at the marginal tax rate.

         Is there another way?  Another way that an investor can get cashflow from the stock market is though selling a covered call.  A covered call is when an investor sells an option and is obligated to sell the 100 shares before or at expiration.  As the investor is the seller in this transaction, he or she is paid a premium up front.

          The investor can make money whether the market goes up, down or sideways.  If the market goes down or sideways, the investor gets to keep the premium.  If the price of the stock goes above the strike price, the option can be assigned and the investor will have a bigger gain or smaller loss on the selling of his or her shares.

          Today, I sold a call option in Royal Bank, which I currently own 100 shares.

    Summary:
    # of contracts = 1
    strike price = $80.00
    Premium including commissions = $64.05
    Expiration date: Jan 16, 2016

    EDIT : the premium was $0.75 per contract
                commission = $10.95

     Disclosure: Long RY

    DISCLAIMER
    I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

    Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.




    Thursday, September 10, 2015

    Recent Buy


    Related image
         During the month of August I decided to add to my Enbridge Inc shares directly through the transfer agent. When purchasing shares this way, I have no control over the purchase price of the shares. I also only have to pay the price of a stamp to mail the check to purchase the shares. There are no commissions.
    We transport energy, operating the world's longest, most sophisticated crude oil and liquids transportation system. We have a significant and growing presence in the natural gas transmission and midstream businesses, and an increasing involvement in power transmission.
    We generate energy, expanding our interests in renewable and green energy technologies including wind and solar energy and geothermal.
    We distribute energy, owning and operating Canada's largest natural gas distribution company, and provide distribution services in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and New York State. (Source : www.enbridge.com)

       On September 1,  I purchased  5.066 shares at a price of $52.31 for a total of $265.00. The dividend is also paid on September 1 also. I owned 7.143 shares prior to the dividend date and was paid a dividend of $3.33. These dividends were reinvested back into the same company. I acquired 0.065 shares at a price of $51.26.

       The price of the DRIP shares is 2% discounted for shares acquired with reinvested dividends. Some brokers do pass this 2% discounted price on to investors while others do not. Other companies have bigger discounts through the transfer agent than this. My shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) is directly through the transfer agent. BNS use to have the a 2% discount on shares purchased with reinvested dividends but have stopped the discount within the last 2 years.

    Conclusion:

           Enbridge is not an energy producer in terms of crude oil and natural gas. They are involved in the transportation of crude oil and natural gas.  When someone's thermostat kicks in, the company is making money provided the house or building uses energy provided by their pipelines or renewable energy sources. ENB is currently paying a $1.862 per share annual dividend. So the 5.131 shares add $9.55 to my annual divided income.

    I also own 33 shares of Enbridge (ENB) in my TFSA.

    Disclosure: Long BNS and ENB (all accounts)

    Photo credit: www.ecofitt.ca 

    DISCLAIMER
    I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

    Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.